The Death Of a Bright Star
by AnimatedWolf
Summary: what happens when ever a adored and loved star has to move on...


The Death Of a Bright Star - A short story by AnimatedWolf

It was a rainy day for Hollywood, and Penny, who was now 22, was sitting in her trailer, talking on the phone with her new manager as they discussed the future of Bolt.

"Listen, Penny; I know you grew up with this show and I know that it's Bolt's life, but... but he's getting old... He can't keep up like he used to. Fans are beginning to notice how much screen time he has in all of the episodes we produce nowadays, and they've seen how bolt is barely in the picture anymore... I'm afraid that he's not in the fit shape that he is anymore and, frankly, you've grown out of your "young hero" character. I'm sorry, Penny, but I have doubts about Bolt's cinematic future."

Penny could hardly believe what she was hearing. She thought she was in a dream and she just wanted it to end quickly, although she did notice Bolt's condition. He limped over to the couch that Penny was resting on and jumped up, though having some trouble as he got his front paws on the couch but couldn't get his back legs to help him up on the velvet chair.

"... Here boy..." Penny set down the phone and picked him up, helping him onto the couch. He looked up to make his famous bright smile at his loyal owner before laying down and resting his head on Penny's lap, struggling but succeeding to lift an ear to listen in on the conversation after Penny had picked up the phone and set it to her ear and responded.

"Yeah... I know... What do you suggest we do?" She said as she could feel her lips curl, she rested a hand on top of Bolt's old, weary head and toyed with his ears.

"Well your future hasn't died yet; several show opportunities are just waiting for you! Soap operas, drama movies, comedy series... Really, you've got the world in your palm!"

"Yeah... But what about Bolt? I mean sure, he'll still be alive but... it's depressing seeing him like this." She looked down with a tear breaching the corners of her eyes, smiling at the slightly grey dog. He looked up and smiled back.

"Well... What I suggest is that you spend his final days with him. He's part of the family; just be with him as much as possible. You don't want to regret anything when he-"

"I know." Penny tried her hardest to hold back tears but she failed. She couldn't help but to hold her hand to her mouth to muffle her whines in emotional pain. She set down the phone and began to put her face in her hands, sobbing quietly as tears slowly fell from her face. Bolt looked up and heard every bit of the conversation and simply smiled, he stood up with his old bones and licked penny on the cheek softly.

_Penny... Penny, please don't cry... It's ok... It's ok..._

What penny heard was just a sorrowful whine emitting from Bolt's maw. She let go of her face, turned to her trustworthy canine, and did not hesitate to wrap her arms around Bolt, hugging him tightly. Her tears absorbed in his fur as she looked up, lifting her head from the depths of Bolt's fur. She looked at the numerous photos that concealed several sweet memories of her Bolt: That time when Bolt performed his super bark to protect her, that time when they went to the desert, and the time they got out of the grip of the green-eyed man's clutches yet again!

"Oh Bolt... What am I going to do?"

_It's going to be OK, Penny... _Bolt smiled, lifting his left paw and rested it on the shoulder of his dear Penny. He couldn't help but smile and begin to cry tears of his own for his Penny...

_It'll all... be... o... k..._

Bolt began to feel light-headed and a bit woozy as he suddenly went limp in Penny's arms. He let out a long, high-pitched whine before going completely limp.

"Bolt? BOLT!" She began to panic as she backed up from the grip of the poor old dog and watched as he slumped to the ground, motionless.

"OH GOD NO! PLEASE!"

She flipped him over on his back and lifted his head. Putting both of her hands on bolt's chest, she began to perform canine CPR, but it didn't even make Bolt budge. She began to push harder and harder at his chest, tears just dripping from her face and soaking into his fur. It didn't take long for guards to burst through Penny's trailer door and notice the futile attempts of a girl trying to revive a motionless dog. It hardly took the guards half a second to get Bolt into the back of one of their cars. It only took a few minutes of a panicked drive between Penny's set to a 5-star Veterinarian. The Vet didn't even need time to react before picking up the limp dog from Penny's arms and bringing him over to one of the back rooms to set him on a gurney. He began hooking up several different tubes and mechanisms to Bolt in an attempt to keep him alive. As soon as Bolt was ripped from Penny's grasp, she tried her hardest to run after the vet to make sure her dearest pet was ok. However, the vets held her back to prevent any distractions for the procedures on the dog.

"NO! LET ME GO! I NEED TO SEE BOLT!" She cried out as she limply punched and scratched at her guard's arms. They held her back from chasing after the doctor, but it took her a couple of seconds to calm down and just simply stop. She saw the mechanisms to be hooked up to Bolt and watched the door, giving her any vison of her dear pet, to be closed before her.

One of the doctors walked out to talk to Penny as they have finally done everything they could to help Bolt, saying, "Penny, we were able to resurrect Bolt, but he's not in a good condition. He's in a lot of pain right now, and he can barely move. You can visit him, but we beg of you not to get him excited or moving in any way."

"I understand..." She took a heavy and shaky sigh as she dropped her head and looked down at the tile floor. She held her hands together in front of her faint pink hoodie.

"Ok then; Right this way, please."

Penny tried her hardest to be a woman and not cry at times like these. However, she could not help but silently weep as small tears found their way through her eyelids and out into the cold, open air. After a bit of walking, the vet opened the door leading to a slow-moving Bolt on a gurney, with a couple of machines hooked up to him. It seemed excessive to hook up this much hardware to a dog, but when the dog has been a star and has been the role model for children and teens around the world, then there is no limit for equipment. She walked up to her dog and kneeled down next to the bed, watching Bolt's droopy eyes as he turned to his owner and smiled. Penny smiled back and held Bolt's paw in her hand. She took a very shaky and weak gasp, on the verge of just bursting with tears at the sight of Bolt in this kind of condition.

_Hey... Hey, hey. There's no need to cry, _Bolt said through a weak smile. In translation, however, it just led to him licking the face of his faithful owner and enjoying the sweet embrace of his paw in the grasp of his person.

"Ohhh god, Bolt... What am I going to do?... I- I just don't know what to do anymore... I don't think I'll be able to continue my career without you..."

_Oh Penny, please don't cry. It'll be ok... Listen-_

Bolt leaned down a bit and tried his best to lift his owner's head with his muzzle. He barely succeed, getting Penny's full attention as she stared deeply in those glazed eyes.

_You have been the best owner ever... You've never given up on me... You've supported me, and even in the darkest times, when you stopped that printer... I knew somewhere in your heart that you cared for me and wished every day that I'd come back... And if I wasn't thinking about you every second of my adventure, I don't think I could have made it... You have helped me so much, and I can't thank you enough for it... I wish I could pay you back, but... Really, there's nothing in the world that I can fetch and no trick great enough to show you my appreciation for you... But I will say this... I'm dying. You and I both know this and it won't be long till I cross over... But I beg you, please: Let go. Forget about me if you can. I don't ever want to hurt you, nor do I want to hold you back... So when I die, and the tombstone is set up and the dust has settled... just move on with your life. Please don't think about me when you don't have to. Always look towards the future and live in the present and don't ever live in the past... The future is a newly paved road for you to travel and the past is... just a ball-and-chain holding you back; don't let me hold you back..._

Penny couldn't explain it, but for some reason, she could understand. In those deep, sorrowful eyes, she knew what Bolt was trying to tell her. She smiled and nodded quickly, tears streaming out of her eyes and her grip on his brittle paw tightening.

"I will, Bolt, I will. You've always been an amazing pet... I'll try my best to not get held back like this, but I promise you that I'll never forget. I'll still keep all of those pictures, and I'll never forget the amazing times we've had... Thank you... for all of that... I won't let this hold me back, but in the deep depths of my heart, I will never forget. Thank you, Bolt, for everything."

_You're welcome, Penny... And with that... I can finally be at peace... Thank you..._

She smiled and nodded softly as she watched Bolt's eyes soon slide closed. His head rested against the bed and soon became limp. Penny closed her eyes and listened for that inevitable tone...

*BEEP... BEEP... BEEP-BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE*

-One Day Later-

Penny, Penny's mother and nearly the whole crew of Bolt's studio stood in front of the grave, with a near-dozen bouquets of flowers. Everyone stared at the tombstone, on the verge of tears; even people with the lightest connection of the pure-white dog felt like they were about to fall to their knees and hold their face in their hands and sob.

Penny stood, speaking in front of the gravestone in a black veil next to her mother, who was wiping up her own tears with a tissue in her hand.

"We've all come here today to honor the death of a beloved pup: Bolt. He was an actor all of his life and a damn good one, too. He was the main star of our show and helped this studio become what it is today. He has become the greatest hero of nearly every child as well as a role model for everyone else. A dog who all he wanted was to protect the one he cared for the most: His owner..."

Penny looked behind her and saw everyone bowing their heads and holding each other, hands in front of them. She turned back to the thick stone, continuing:

"I think he would want all of us to live on with our daily lives and not let this hold us back; to remember all of the good times with that energetic white pup without remembering the bad and regretful ones..."

She could feel tears breaching the lids of her eyes and dribble down her soft cheeks, but she refused to show any weakness and continued with her speech:

"And I think if he were here today and he could talk... he would say that... he loved us all within the depths of his heart, and that there is nothing more that we could do to make him feel more at home then he is now... Let's all go home and live life to its fullest... and not let this drag us down. Let us make this moment build us into better people... Let's go..."

And with that, everyone made a quick nod and turned around, walking back into the studio.

However, one black cat waited until everyone left before she made her entrance. She carefully walked up to the front of the gravestone and set down a familiar orange chew toy in front of the slab of concrete: Mr. Carrot.

_Heh, hey there wags, _Mittens said as she stared at the name etched into the piece of concrete.

_I, uh, just wanted to come visit and see how you were doing... Well, not too well, I can see... eh... Not the time for jokes, _she said, dropping her head and looking at the ground in shame.

_Well, um... I just wanted to say that I've always kind of liked you... I mean, as silly as you were and as stupid as you acted, I kinda liked you... a lot... Though I guess I just never got the chance to tell you except for now... I guess I never got the guts to... It won't be long before I pass away too, but I promise you, Bolt: For the amount of time I have on this earth, I'll protect Penny as much as I can in the same way you protected her... I'll miss you, Bolt..._

She raised a hand to place on the front of the tomb and feel the concrete. Rain landed on her paw and dripped to the ground, nurturing the rich soil.

_Hah, well, um... I think it's time to go... See you around... Bolt, _She said before turning around and sprinting off behind Penny. She was about 20 feet behind Penny before she took a second to stop and think for a moment.

_Heh... I'll miss that goofball._

She ran off to be with her family again.


End file.
